4

The Ex-Cub Playoff Preview

For those of you who subscribe to Ron Berler’s theory on the Ex-Cub Factor* (which was publicized and popularized by Mike Royko) I am providing a quick and possibly not-quite comprehensive list of ex-Cubs who are on the rosters of the various playoff teams. If you do some intensive research and find that I’ve left someone off this list, you probably need to get out more often.

So there you have it. From the looks of things, the Yankees, Cardinals and Red Sox are done for. And I don’t like the idea of having any ex-Cub in your bullpen(especially Farnsworth), so I’m counting Atlanta. So that gives us: San Diego, Houston, LA and the White Sox. I’ll take Houston over San Diego, and the Angels over the White Sox. That leaves LA and Houston in the World Series, of which I’ll take LA, since Josh Paul is a 3rd string catcher so there’s a chance he won’t even be on his team’s playoff roster.

My unscientific pick for World Series Champion: The Los Angeles Angels of Disneyland.

*The Ex-Cub Factor states that since the Cubs last World Series appearance in 1945, any team with three or more ex-Cub players on the roster will not win the World Series. Since that time, only 3 teams with 3 or more ex-Cubs have won the Series. An ex-Cub is any player who has played at least one game with the Chicago Cubs major league team.